30 June, Dambulla (Sri Lanka). Lanka is a land associated with the events of the life of Lord Rama, dear to Hindus. Which is known as Sri Lanka in modern times.
Located in Matale district near the city of Dambulla in the central province of Sri Lanka, the fort along with the huge structure is considered by the Hindus to be Ravana’s palace.
Whose relationship is connected with Lord Rama and Mother Janaki (Sita). Also, Sri Lanka is a predominantly Buddhist country. That is why the locals here describe this huge structure as the palace of King Kashyap (AD 477-495). Which Buddhists visit Sigiriya Fort with faith as a Buddhist monastery.
Whatever the explanation, Sri Lanka is still attracting millions of tourists to this place through this structure.
Last week on Friday, our team left from Jetwing Lake Hotel in Dambulla at 4 am for Piduranga rock climbing. Pidurangala Rock is situated in a place, in front of which you can see the Sigiriya Fort standing.
Ravana is a scary character who read in Ramayana since childhood. It was a great opportunity for me to visit the area where he ruled and the place where the golden palace is said to be.
Regardless of the reality of the story, characters and history, there was no reason not to bow down when you reached the palace described by your faith and related texts.
After that, I remembered the daughter of Nepal, Mata Janaki. That was the same area, where mother Janaki was lost by Ravana and taken to his palace. That was the same area, which was burnt by Hanuman.
Sigiriya Fort is in the shape of a lion. Which is also called ‘Lion Rock Sinhala’. Its other name is Singhagiri. 590 feet high, this fort is a huge structure of one stone. It takes more than two hours to climb. We climbed Piduranga Rock to see the shape of Sigiriya Fort. From where the real height of Sigiriya, structures and surrounding structures can be closely observed.
Sigiriya is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The ruins of the ancient palace can still be seen from its premises to the upper part. Which is carefully protected by Sri Lanka. It was found that this country is making the same structure as a means of tourist arrival.
While observing Sigiriya from Pidurangala Rock, many thoughts came to mind. Legend has it that Ravana used to fly in the Pushpak Vimana. Since there are no other structures around this fort, and it is in the middle of a dense forest, it can be assured that it was not possible for any elite force to build a palace here.
Even though it is a modern king’s palace, the question of how millions of bricks were taken to the upper level of the huge stone, which takes about two hours to walk, and how the structure was built, is a question that lingers in my mind.
Sigiriya area has been protected with dense forests to continue the tourist attractions for hundreds of years while preserving the legendary heritage. Tourists are charged 1000 Sri Lankan currency to climb Pidurangala Rock. A fee of 2,000 per person is charged to climb Sigiriya. According to the locals, such a fee will be spent on the protection of the area and the enhancement of tourist facilities.
According to locals, this fort was in use until the 14th century. It is also believed that the structures seen now are from the same period. However, today Pidurangala Rock and Sigiriya have become the center of attraction for tourists from all over the world.
When we reached the rock on Friday, hundreds of foreign tourists had reached both structures to watch the sunrise. However, due to continuous rain and clouds last week, the sunrise could not be observed on this day. The vast forest around is also famous for wild elephants.
That is why electric fences have been installed on the road leading to this fort from the urban area along with Dambulla through the forest road. The reason for doing this is to protect tourists from wild elephant attacks.
Another feature of Sigiriya is the ponds and gardens located here. Which represents the grandeur of this palace. Although these structures were built during the time of King Kashyap, it can be guessed how lavish and luxurious he lived in the building.
How to reach Sigilia from Nepal?
On the first day of a week-long visit to Sri Lanka, we landed at the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo via a direct flight of SriLankan Airlines, the national flag carrier of Sri Lanka, from Tribhuvan International Airport.
SriLankan Airlines is connecting Nepal’s Kathmandu and Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo through direct flights. The flight duration of this route is 3 and a half hours. Dambulla city can be reached by road journey of 175 km from Colombo.
For tourist facilities in Dambulla, sufficient vehicles are available for Sigiriya Fort and Pidurangala Rock. Due to being a tourist country, hotels and travel agencies are also providing adequate packages here. Through which one can easily reach Ravana’s palace. According to the locals, a large number of Indian tourists visit this place now. In the second place, European tourist attraction is very visible.
